Though you can't really go wrong with this period, this show easily tops the next two of the run. In fact it's as good as the best from late '73 (11/14, 11/20 & 12/10). There are multiple climaxes and it feels like more than a single show in that respect. The second set is 2hrs long and loaded with good songs. The UJB encore isn't on the SBD (or the official release) and I swear an AUD used to be on the archive or in circulation somewhere. This would have been a great one to see, and in November the notorious Winterland heat/ventilation problem may have been abated.

First Set. It's not a very exciting start until pinpoints of quasars leak from Brown-Eyed Women. At least, from what we can hear - the first minute has mix errors (the first 1: 40 on the official release is from Durham 12/8). After a strong Bobby McGee the show blows wide with They Love Each Other. The lyrics are out of place but Jer compensates and Keith is great. Also listen to Bobby's fills. It still has the "every song I sing" bridge, cuz '73 was the year for TLEO. You da man, TLEO! After a generic Black-Throated Wind (with digi-static) comes a thrilling Dough Knees. I dig Bobby under Jer's second solo. It has "texas blues" and much in common with '70. The vox are a bit low on Mexicali but they were able to pull them out from the back somewhat on the official release. Shite sent me left at the lights - unexpected for Mexi. The next few are average '73, but China>Rider is nice. There are some shaky vox and Billy misses some rolls, but there is a Feelin' Groovy jam and it sets up for a kablammo-melt Playin'. The Donnaskreech™ was rather aggressively captured, but otherwise the way they come out of the jam alone is worth the ride tariff - especially Phil thumbing the harmonic. You know what they all say: a good Playin's about as hard to find as a freaking Uncle. Still, the interplay is chocolate cake for breakfast, and actually Phil is the man

Second Set. Here Comes Sunshine has one of a kind fills. It's '73's monster song and here it's a James Whale special. The start is clipped on the SBD; the official cuts all of the first 21sec, replacing them with UCLA 11/17. The SBD also has a mono punch from 3:54>5:08, losing Bobby's guitar, along with a couple drop-outs. These are apparently transfer errors because they don't exist on the official. Jer's in a freaking mood for this Me & My Uncle, and it fires everybody. Keith is especially awesome. The SBD goes mono again on To Lay Me Down, missing Bobby's guitar until 4:50, and again after 6:44. The official release is in stereo, but the tuning following Uncle into the first few seconds of To Lay, and 6:47>7:22 have both been replaced with Denver 11/20/73. Big River is a wild, unkempt stepchild that goes on to med school. And the thrills keep coming. Greatest Story has the secondary jam and the set has another zenith at Eyes. On the latter, Jer's loopy licks and Bobby's little double stop slides and diminished sevenths are insane. The first few seconds have a tape error; on the official release, 0:07>1:04 is from UCLA 11/17. The rest of the set is above average with a strong Goin' Down the Road (which was incestuously used to patch Denver '73, on Road Trips v4n3). Johnny B. Goode leaves us happy - but not the punters; they got an UJB encore that was not captured.

1st Set:  B
2nd Set: A-
Overall = 4½ stars

Highlights:
They Love Each Other - "On Planet Dead everyone could think and act like a leader" - Sam Cutler
Don't Ease Me In - Tejas blues and lines to '70
Mexicali Blues - if just passing through, stop here to fuel up
Playing in the Band - jam worth the ride tariff and Phil's the man
Here Comes Sunshine - monster whale
Me & My Uncle - Jer and Keith are ON; don't miss
Big River - unkempt but verklempt
Eyes of the World - loopy licks, double stopped insanity

SOURCES: The kaplan SBD runs very fast, needing -2.5% pitch correction. Several songs have digistatic errors and/or fuzzed-out sections as well as some stereo loss, with mono punches that lose instruments. With no AUD, there are patchless cuts and jams separated from their songs. Winterland 1973: The Complete has the entire show, except Black-Throated, Here Comes Sunshine, To Lay Me Down, & Eyes have parts from other shows. It mostly did a good job correcting the SBD issues, however it too is missing the encore and has speed errors, with the first disc needing -1.5% pitch and Discs 2 & 3 needing -1.25%.

If you take a look at the top of this page you will see that this show was released several years ago as part of a box set of all three Winterland shows from this run. Peace.

why this was never released on cd and dvd is beyond me maybe one day

When in Deadheadland -Greensboro NC Dark Star-
I traded sound for hall speaker dance floor.
This sounds much like that , you just have to focus down on the music and dance thru it.
Of course a fuller board would be Bee's Knees but
Keith on Piano -Race is On
Donna on Row Jimmy
Check out Phil & Bobby singing on Rider
Speaking of Rider that could easily have been end of set
but in 73 we get a very lovely extended PITB to boot.
To my ears there is enough music here to make this an enjoyable if somewhat muted listen.
Second Set has Here Comes Sunshine, WRS>EYES>China Doll--Yeah
with plenty of umpph besides.
Perhaps the Dead are at their sweetest
with all the Wake of the Flood tunes
the Half Step coming on the heels of
Too Lay me Down, Big River
oh and Greatest > Bertha!
"The one thing we need
is a left-handed-monkey wrench!"

Too fast.

Highlights: Playing In The Band, To Lay Me Down, Weather Report, Let It Grow, Eyes Of The World, China Doll

Promised Land starts us off in typical fashion with good energy.
BEW is a nice one, they are setting up for a nice show.
Bobby McGee
TLEO has a great tempo, fun song.
BTW
Don’t Ease, believe it or not, this is the highlight of the set thus far!
Mexicali maintains the fun.
Row Jimmy features some nice high notes from Jerome, but drags things down a bit.
Race is On
China>Rider, and here we have a new highlight of the set, the segue into Rider is long and fantastic. Great teamwork throughout.
PITB is also fantastic, maintaining a proper tempo, while Garcia noodles his way through it all. Bob throws in some great supporting rhythm guitar. Interestingly, the jam they find sticks, with little exploration, as they focus on it. You couldn’t ask for more. As they prepare for the reprise there is a the requisite segue back to the them which they handle beautifully. A+.

HC Sunshine is a nice way to open the 2nd, the energy picks up a lot in the outro jam.
MAMU is a good choice to maintain the energy.
To Lay Me Down is somber and beautiful.
Big River hits the spot again, Jerry and Keith, and as usual, killer outro.
Half-Step is a great effort, virtually perfect with a nice vibe.
GSET>Bertha, again, more consistent playing.
WRS>LIG>Eyes>China Doll
The meat sequence starts off in fine form. A ten minutes in things are heating up the way they are known to in this song. There’s some great synched up guitar just before the 15th minute, which then sinks the song into the river, only to give rise to Jerry’s opening chords of Eyes. The first verse jam is a nice little noodle fest, as is the second as it reaches higher places. Traditionally the more exploratory jam, the third verse jam/outro stays close to the theme for a good bit, with touches of what would later be slipknot riffs. Slipping into China Doll, our minds have a moment to reflect.
Around x2 has us rocking in place again!
GDTRFB>JBG

Encore: UJB is missing from the official release!

Performance Summary
This is a consistent show, never really reaching massive climax, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Sound Quality
A+ for the official release.

the greatest They love each other of all time i makes every day go by better and also the dead are just on in the the whole collection on winterland 73 collection get it all i say :)

did this one slip through or what? as of this writing this is still a downloadable board.... the first night of an historically KILLER RUN at winterland -- this is the stuff that solidified the legend that WAS/IS The Grateful Dead.

a solid 4-4.5 star show, when compared with the next two nights, both BONAFIED 5 STAR KILLERS.

...are both in excellent form this night, and the rest of the band play at the same level. While there is no "uber-jam" at this show, it is beautifully played and a joy to listen to. Playin is crazy, and the WRS>Eyes is splendid. The cassette generation in this download does fuzzy the sound a bit, but do not let that deter you in the least!

This is a great show filled with really wonderful music.... This Eyes and Let it Grow are unspeakably good and deserve special mention. This is a rocking show and the sound is not all that bad. This is very similiar to 2/22 U of Illinois which is a personal favorite from the year as well as Kiel Auditorium on 10/30 also a killer.

I have a cassette of the 2nd set of 11/9. The sound is somewhat better than here - recorded from the radio-WBAI 99.5FM in NYC "Morning Dew" Show. The sound is still not as good as the 11/11 show, but I find more energy and fster tempos on 11/9 songs. I'm going to keep the cassette of 11/9 and burn to CD 11/11- the best of both worlds? Hard to beat those Winterland shows! I give this one 5* for performance, 3* for recording - average of 4*

11/9 and 11/10 are not presented in the sound quality that 11/11 is. I'm not saying 11/11's performance doesn't deserve its accolades, but it's unfair to compare it to 9 and 10 because the premium sound makes it a far more enjoyable listening experience.

This whole period of late '73 is fantastic. It's an extension of '74. You want more '74? Well, start plumbing the depths of late '73.

Heading for our favorite seats, this was the song we were hearing. Apparently the band had started more than a half hour early. Good omen or what?

Last night at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles I saw Dark Star Orchestra for the very first time. From the set up of only one drummer through the opener of Promised Land, an upbeat They Love Each Other and finally the clincher, a rare Here Comes Sunshine, I knew we were in 1973 all over again. Except I wasn't there the first time. So this was great and I have to admit a very close second. No one else does what this band does, whether I'm referring to the Grateful Dead or DSO. The energy here is great, the sound is great, the quality of music is outstanding. Burn this concert. And also go see DSO whenever the opportunity arises.

Don't miss this. The two shows following get all the press, but this is a definite winner. The stars and planets were all in line for these three days. Quality is good. Show is shorter, but still great.